


the queen inevitably dies

by ntkrrs



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: F/M, Inspired by Fanfiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-13
Updated: 2020-11-13
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:40:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27538486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ntkrrs/pseuds/ntkrrs
Summary: Riza forces Roy to discuss the inevitable. Inspired by a strange fate with wandering limbs by bergamots.
Relationships: Riza Hawkeye & Roy Mustang, Riza Hawkeye/Roy Mustang
Comments: 8
Kudos: 38





	the queen inevitably dies

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [a strange fate with wandering limbs](https://archiveofourown.org/works/9217607) by [tsaritsaa](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tsaritsaa/pseuds/tsaritsaa). 



> if y'all haven't read that, you're missing out. tears abound, though.
> 
> un-beta'd.

“No,” Mustang says, very vehemently. His fingers are steepled, covering his harsh frown. The large window of his office casts shadows on his face, and on the chessboard between them. “Absolutely not.”

Hawkeye is silent for a long while.

Roy’s head is racing, his gaze fixed on the long shadows cast by the pieces. He stares at his queen, halfway across the board. A keystone in his plans, it cannot crumble. He cannot lose—it’s absurd. She’s too important. The inevitability of—

Hawkeye makes a move and takes his rook. Her bishop is dangerously close to his queen. “Your move, sir.”

Roy presses his lips together. “What...” He steels his nerves. “What would you call it?”

Riza meets his gaze. “Louise.”

He stiffens at the name. If _it_ happens, then she remains a soldier. He reaches for his queen and takes it two squares back, out of her reach.

Her brow creases in the slightest as she thinks of her next move.

Roy’s hand trembles. “Hawkeye. You ask too much of me.”

“I ask enough,” she replies succinctly, moving a pawn. “The inevitability of—”

“ _Hawkeye_ ,” Roy warns, taking her pawn with a move of his queen. He realizes late that he’d made way for her to take it. He stiffens and glares at her. 

“The game goes on without the queen,” she says, placing the piece outside of the board, along the line of all her kills. “You must always have a backup plan. A failsafe.”

He stares intently the board. He has his second rook, the one she hasn’t taken, his bishops, maybe a handful of pawns. A knight. His king.

He chooses not to answer her, and she maintains the same silence. A few moves later, and he restores his queen—a welcome relief. But Hawkeye is only steps away from taking his king. His fist clenches because he stupid enough to let it happen.

“The game is over once the king dies,” Riza reminds him. 

He ignores her and restrategizes, eyes running over the board. He finds a few and settles on one, but it’s a narrow path to success. But it’s worth a try.

He makes his move, and Riza does the expected counter. She takes his last rook and one bishop, but he manages to nick her knight and two pawns. It all builds to Riza being one step away from taking Roy’s king.

“Don’t make me do this, Riza,” he pleads, voice soft and desperate.

Riza’s hand falters on her chess piece. Her fingers tighten almost imperceptibly, before she speaks. “The queen isn’t important.”

“The queen is more powerful than the king,” counters Roy, reaching to his queen—untouched—closer to her side of the board. He hadn’t had a chance to move her when he took her back.

“But in the death of her king,” she says, lifting her piece to push Roy’s king over, “what use is she?”

“You can take her back,” Roy says, gripping the piece. “In chess, you can take her back.”

Hawkeye smiles, small and melancholy. “I didn’t realize we were still talking about chess.”

Riza has not won, not by any stretch of the imagination, but Roy closes his eyes and admits defeat.


End file.
